THE NEXT ICE AGE - NOW!

Scientists are puzzled by a 400-degree hot spot in the ground that ignited a
wildfire.

The
hot spot was discovered by fire crews putting out a three-acre fire last summer
in the
Los
Padres
National Forest
.

"They
saw fissures in the ground where they could feel a lot of heat coming out,"
said Los Padres geologist Allen King. "It was not characteristic of a
normal fire."

When
fire investigators stuck a candy thermometer into the ground, it shot to the top
of the scale, to 400 degrees.

"When
I heard about the candy thermometer, I was amazed," said Robert Mariner, a
U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist who studies volcanic gas vents, noting that
the temperature of the volcanic vents he studies is typically 200 degrees,
around the boiling point of water. "I thought these guys were pulling my
leg."

(My
first thought was that a new volcano is forming. So far, however, scientists
have found no evidence of explosions or volcanic activity.)